New York: Hotel Guides

Staying at a hotel should be an exciting escape to a new home of your choosing, if just for a few nights. Whether you’re searching for something chic, luxurious or kid-shaped, New York’s best hotels rise to the occasion

Best for… Spa: Four Seasons Hotel New York

Four Seasons Hotel New York

Inside one of New York’s most famous hotels lies a spa fit for the gods. The 4,500ft space boasts ten treatment rooms, nail stations, a full hair salon, makeup artists and locker rooms equipped with saunas and whirlpools. As the first L.Raphael U.S. outpost, you can have traditional relaxation services like a four-hands massage and firming and lifting revitalizing facials as well as cutting edge anti-ageing treatments like anti-cellulite and tightening or anti-pigmentation treatment. For a big night on the town, splurge on deluxe manicures and pedicures, waxing services and full hair and makeup prep.

57 East 57th Street

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Best for… Budget: Yotel

Yotel

Situated in a convenient Midtown location, this trendy capsule hotel makes the most of its smaller spaces. Choose a room based on your needs – some rooms have city views, some have single or double bunk beds and some have terraces with outdoor tubs. Wake up to complimentary tea, coffee and muffins downstairs each morning, lounge on the largest hotel terrace in the city and take in an outdoor movie with Rooftop Cinema Club. You can even store your luggage with the hotel’s heavy-lifting “Yobot.” At this hotel, you give a little and get a lot in return.

570 Tenth Avenue

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Best for… Luxury: St. Regis New York

St Regis New York

Since its 1904 founding by businessman John Jacob Astor IV (who passed away in the sinking of the Titanic), the St. Regis has hosted generations of high society members, from Alfred Hitchcock to Salvador Dali, in the gilded halls of its Beaux-Arts landmark building. Thanks to a recent multi-million-dollar hotel-wide renovation, the interior is grander than ever, with extravagant chandeliers and crown moulding everywhere you look, designer suites from Bentley, Tiffany and Dior and an enormous Presidential Suite with floor-to-ceiling views of Central Park. Be sure to have a signature Bloody Mary at the King Cole bar while a mural from American painter Maxfield Parrish looms over you.

2 East 55th Street

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Best for… Romance: The Library Hotel

The Library Hotel

For those who love nothing more than to be lost within the consuming pages of a good book, this hotel is an oasis. More than 6,000 hardcover books make their home throughout the hotel, some of which are housed in the Love Room, with titles on sex and relationships handpicked by household name Dr. Ruth Westheimer and a balcony overlooking both Madison Avenue and the statuesque New York Public Library. Besides the cosy Reading Room and Poetry Garden and nightly wine and cheese reception, guests can enhance their stay with ‘The Guilty Pleasure Package’ which includes a selection of books hand selected by their honorary librarian tailored to your reading habits. Or indulge in the ‘Happily Ever After’ package with a chilled bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne and 1/2 lb of Leonidas Chocolates for your arrival.

299 Madison Avenue

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Best for… Food: The NoMad

The Library Hotel

The plush NoMad Hotel is an elegant destination in its own right, but its high status is certainly helped by chef Daniel Humm’s in-house restaurants. The co-owner and chef of Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park crafted a weighty American-European dining menu stacked with items like foie gras, blue prawns and suckling pig with an extensive wine and Champagne list, and made the classic-feeling NoMad Bar dashing but approachable, with steak frites, bacon-wrapped hot dog and popsicle to enjoy alongside a traditional Manhattan. This is a bar Hemingway would haunt.

1170 Broadway

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Best for… Family: Le Parker Meridien New York

Le Parker Meridien New York

For such a fancy spot, Le Parker Meridien sure knows how to treat kids. Large rooms and suites (each one is more than 300 sq ft) feature a separate living area with pull-out bed so everyone has room to breathe; the rooftop hosts an indoor pool with great views of Central Park and the surrounding city, plus a full food and drink menu; and two family-friendly restaurants, Norma’s and Burger Joint, mean you won’t have to worry about any withering stares. Have brunch at Norma’s daily till 3pm (blueberry pancakes or cheesy French toast, anyone?) or head to the hole-in-the-wall Burger Joint, shrouded by a velvet curtain off the hotel’s lobby, for a classic combination of burgers, fries and milkshakes.

119 West 56th Street

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Best for… Business: Bryant Park Hotel

Bryant Park Hotel

Situated in the heart of Midtown, overlooking Bryant Park (where free workouts, Shakespeare plays and live music go on all summer long) and the majestic New York Public Library, you won’t be far from wherever your work may take you here. Rooms are equipped with complimentary high-speed WiFi, HDTVs and a radio you can hook up to your iPhone. And if you’re looking to impress a client, you don’t have to head farther than the Japanese Koi restaurant and Cellar Bar downstairs, while rooms are available for events, private seated meetings or film screenings.

40 West 40th Street

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Best for… Design: Dream Midtown

Dream Midtown

Among New York’s trendier stays, the Dream Midtown’s restored Beaux-Arts flatiron building is a sight to behold. Built in 1895, the glamorous hotel is a standout example of Neoclassical architecture – an invigorating sight next to the many nondescript skyscrapers surrounding it. After a $20 million update, rooms now feature colourful violet accents, bathrooms with marble details and furniture with natural wood finishings, as well as a huge rooftop lounge called PHD Terrace (plan to go on a weeknight), dressed-up cocktail lounge The Rickey and dining at the Hollywood-inspired Serafina.

210 West 55th Street

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Best for… Cool: Gansevoort Meatpacking

Gansevoort Meatpacking

If a discerning, upscale social scene is what you’re into, look no further. The Gansevoort Meatpacking rests within a certain vortex of New York City’s elite, steps from top-tier shopping, members-only club Soho House and plenty of smart restaurants and clubs like The Top of the Standard. The hotel’s glowing neon purple entrance is just the start of its on-trend decor, including a lobby bar complete with a pool table, mod-style furniture and and a rooftop pool lit from within. Relax on the Saharan-inspired rooftop lounge or dine with views of the Hudson River at the Chester, pick up extra cosmetic or styling products in your room’s glamour minibar and dance the night away at the Provocateur Nightclub, before you’re seen at other spots around town, of course.

18 Ninth Avenue

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Best for… Views The Pierre

The Pierre

There’s nothing quite like looking out over the far-reaching lushness of Central Park, surrounded on all sides by towering skyscrapers gleaming in the sun. The Pierre sits at the south-eastern tip of the park, near Bergdorf Goodman, the glass Apple Cube and the Central Park Zoo. Book one of the Park rooms and you’ll have blanketed views of the park, even being able to spot the George Washington bridge more than 50 blocks away from some. Be sure to head to the hotel’s newly opened French-American restaurant Perrine, or try afternoon tea at the Two E Bar and Lounge.

2 East 61st Street

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